Secondary Music at Home 8

Enjoy these structured musical activities that we have prepared especially for you to continue your learning at home.

• Jump to your stage of learning:
  Years 7-9 | Years 10-11 | Years 12-13
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Years 7-9:
Composing your own gaming music 

You have probably had a bit more time to play on video games whilst we have been in lockdown. This week’s challenge is to compose your own video game music using Remix Live – a free online music-maker. But first...

Think...

• Open the document attached below. It will guide you into thinking about how the music reflects and enhances what is on screen.

Listen and watch...

Watch the video below – a trailer for Marvel's Future Revolution – and answer the following questions (you might need to watch the video a few times):

• 0:00-0:30 – The composer uses an ostinato (repeating phrase) at the start of the clip. What effect does this have? How does it help to set the scene?
• 0.31 – What happens on screen at this point, and how is it reflected in the music?
• 0.56 – A melodic idea returns. Where in the music did you hear something similar? Name two ways it is different from the first time you heard it

Compose and perform...

Now it’s your turn to compose some video game music.  The aim is to create your own piece of background music for this clip which should sound completely different from the original.

• Before you start...
  We're going to use a piece of online software called Remix Live for this. We introduced this in Music at Home Week 5 – follow this link and take a look at the instructions to get used how to use this software
• Getting started...
  Explore the sample sets on Remix Live and choose one that you feel would suit a game based on the Marvel Universe. You can download the free app using the links below, and we have attached a guide on how to use it which might helpful to you.
  
  

  Download from Google Play (Android) | Download from the App Store (Apple)

  Remix Live guide

  (50KB)
• Experiment...
  Mute the YouTube clip, and experiment with playing the remix live samples alongside the video.
• Develop...
  As you develop your ideas, try to build tension.  Can you highlight events on screen (such as a new character arriving) by creating a musical event?  This could be a change of texture (adding or taking away samples) or a sound effect?
• Performance...
  Ask a member of your family to watch the clip while you perform your new music. We'd also love to see your creations!

Years 7-9:
Epic Frog! Music for nature

Watch the video below – a nature video about an epic frog!

• Describe...
  Describe five different ways in which the music matched what you see in the clip.
• Listen...
  Listen to this clip of music by Holst...

• Imagine...
  Play the Epic Frog video again, but only the first 30 seconds, and on mute. Which 30-second period of the clip of Holst's music fits best with the imagery?

Years 10-13:
Writing a killer tune

Last issue, we watched an introduction about how to start a composition- take a look if you missed it! This week we are going to build on that by looking at how to write a melody.

Watch this video by Chris Knapp, giving you a great step by step guide how to write that killer tune...

OR...

You might want to write a pop song in the style of Ed Sheeran... watch this video...

Years 10-13:
Key vocabulary word cloud

Think of a topic that you have already covered in your course so far. Can you find an article or piece of writing about it?

Follow the link below to Word It Out... see if the generator can identify all the key words. Read the article and see if you agree with the key words it finds.